There goes Apple, trash-talking netbooks again. Tim Cook, the company’s chief operating officer, had harsh words yesterday for the current crop of inexpensive mini-notebooks, calling them “junky” with cramped keyboards and bad software. “It’s a stretch to call them a personal computer,” he said.

Ouch.

While I wouldn’t call all netbooks junk, Cook’s criticisms are valid. My biggest gripe with every mini-note I’ve tried is the tiny keyboard. It’s an ergonomic disaster. My hands aren’t huge, but I can’t type on these things for longer than an hour. So if Apple does enter the netbook category — and I believe it will, sooner rather than later — it should address the keyboard issue first.